So I'm here. I now officially live in Charlotte. Let the freaking out begin. I promise to post more in the next few days but for now I just wanted to let everyone know I'm moved. Well technically my stuff isn't here until tomorrow morning. So I'm not done moving.
At this particular moment I'm sitting on my sleeping bag in the middle of my bedroom eating a hot pocket. Yes. I know. I lead a glamorous life. Also I finished my first day of work. For now I'll say it wasn't as bad as it could have been. In the next few days I'm looking to just put my head down and do what I do best. I'm not sure how all these personalities will mesh, but so far so good. I decided that the best thing I can do is stay behind the scenes. I don't need a lot of attention. I'm good at what I do, so if I just do it and stay under the radar I should be just fine.
For example.... We aren't actually allowed to be doing work in our store until the last permit gets signed (hopefully tomorrow). All morning I was feeling especially useless because we were making signs and I have bad printing. So I organized some paper work and helped where I could, but basically lunch couldn't come soon enough. After lunch we were able to "sneak" into our store and do some work on the down low. After doing a sort of group tour to catch everyone up on the progress I wandered off to look at the sections I was taking charge of and was able to feel at least some what productive when i started to move shelves around.
So like I said, day one is done and it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Monday, November 12
Tuesday, October 23
Finally get those pictures up
YAY! blogger finally let me post pictures of my new place! So check those out would ya?
Wednesday, October 17
Post pictures
Blogger seems to be having some issues today and won't let me post any pictures. So in the post below this, all those numbers will soon be pictures. I just wanted to get the post up so Kinsey stops harassing me about my lack of blogging :D
Buy a condo!
Woo! I am now officialy a homeowner. Well I guess technically something could still go horribly wrong between now and the closing date (Oct 30) but who wants to think about pessimistic things like that.
So last week I went down to North Carolina to do the whole house hunting thing. As it turns out, I'm either really great at it or really horrible, because I bought the first one we visited. Not then and there or anything quite so sudden. I knew at the end of the first day that I really liked that one the best and lost interest in continuing to drive around and look at more places.
One of the places I saw the next day did come in a close second, but it had a few more "cons" than this other one. The last place we looked at... I didn't like from the moment we walked in the front door. This was THE most cracked out floorplan I have ever seen in my life. I wish I had taken pictures, but please bear with my so-so description skills...
You walk through the front door and almost smack your head on a light fixture because rather than having a foyer or entry way you're immediately in the "dining room." A dining room so small that once you fillled it with a table and chairs you'd have trouble opening the front door. No lie. Directly to the right is the kitchen. (About the size of the Mazuniks kitchen for those of you who have seen it and would like a reference point) Not super big, but big enough for all the important things. At first I thought the kitchen had two pantrys and a closet... nope the other doors are to the stairs. What? I have to go through my kitchen to go up or down stairs? I think I'm done looking at this one thanks. It was seriously ridiculous. No wonder it was so much less expensive than other places with the same sq footage.
Ok, back to my house now....
This is what it looks like from the driveway
My front door!
Kitchen to the left
But it's very open with the rest of the living room
I have my own little porch and a fireplace and a computer nook and tv alcove that I actually don't think I'm going to put my tv in...
The master bedroom has a skylight type window and connected master bath. There is also a HUGE walk in closet.
Immediately to the right when you come in is the second bedroom. This also has it's own full bathroom and walk in closet.
Not the best picture of it, I know.
So that's my new house! I officially move down there on November 11th. Of course the moving company tells me my stuff won't be arriving until the 12th to the 18th. Yes that's right. There is a six day window in which my stuff whill eventually show up. This is of course complicated by the fact that I start work on the 13th. Great.
At first I planned to fly down and let them move my car, but once I realized I'd be without my stuff for so long I decided it was probably going to be easier for me to drive. Plus it's only 13 hours! Woo! So if anyone out there is interested in joining me on a 13 hour roadtrip across 5 states let me know. :D Ooh you will need to bring your own sleeping bag, though... (see above about not having any of my stuff)
*Update: Yes it is Park Creek Drive
So last week I went down to North Carolina to do the whole house hunting thing. As it turns out, I'm either really great at it or really horrible, because I bought the first one we visited. Not then and there or anything quite so sudden. I knew at the end of the first day that I really liked that one the best and lost interest in continuing to drive around and look at more places.
One of the places I saw the next day did come in a close second, but it had a few more "cons" than this other one. The last place we looked at... I didn't like from the moment we walked in the front door. This was THE most cracked out floorplan I have ever seen in my life. I wish I had taken pictures, but please bear with my so-so description skills...
You walk through the front door and almost smack your head on a light fixture because rather than having a foyer or entry way you're immediately in the "dining room." A dining room so small that once you fillled it with a table and chairs you'd have trouble opening the front door. No lie. Directly to the right is the kitchen. (About the size of the Mazuniks kitchen for those of you who have seen it and would like a reference point) Not super big, but big enough for all the important things. At first I thought the kitchen had two pantrys and a closet... nope the other doors are to the stairs. What? I have to go through my kitchen to go up or down stairs? I think I'm done looking at this one thanks. It was seriously ridiculous. No wonder it was so much less expensive than other places with the same sq footage.
Ok, back to my house now....
This is what it looks like from the driveway
My front door!
Kitchen to the left
But it's very open with the rest of the living room
I have my own little porch and a fireplace and a computer nook and tv alcove that I actually don't think I'm going to put my tv in...
The master bedroom has a skylight type window and connected master bath. There is also a HUGE walk in closet.
Immediately to the right when you come in is the second bedroom. This also has it's own full bathroom and walk in closet.
Not the best picture of it, I know.
So that's my new house! I officially move down there on November 11th. Of course the moving company tells me my stuff won't be arriving until the 12th to the 18th. Yes that's right. There is a six day window in which my stuff whill eventually show up. This is of course complicated by the fact that I start work on the 13th. Great.
At first I planned to fly down and let them move my car, but once I realized I'd be without my stuff for so long I decided it was probably going to be easier for me to drive. Plus it's only 13 hours! Woo! So if anyone out there is interested in joining me on a 13 hour roadtrip across 5 states let me know. :D Ooh you will need to bring your own sleeping bag, though... (see above about not having any of my stuff)
*Update: Yes it is Park Creek Drive
Friday, September 21
Move to North Carolina!
So if you haven't heard already, I'm moving to Charlotte, NC in the beginning of November. Answers to the FAQ's include...
a) Nope, I've never been there before.
b) No, I don't know anyone there.
c) Yes, I'm still with Trader Joes. They are actually taking care of the move for me. My job will stay almost exactly the same, except I'll be part of a team opening a brand new store on the Northside of Charlotte.
d) Of course, you bettter come visit me.
e) I'm incredibly exicted and also terrified at the same time.
I'll post details as soon as I have any to share. So far all I've done is buy myself a new TV and talk to a mortgage specialist at the bank about how much house I can afford to buy. So stay tuned...
a) Nope, I've never been there before.
b) No, I don't know anyone there.
c) Yes, I'm still with Trader Joes. They are actually taking care of the move for me. My job will stay almost exactly the same, except I'll be part of a team opening a brand new store on the Northside of Charlotte.
d) Of course, you bettter come visit me.
e) I'm incredibly exicted and also terrified at the same time.
I'll post details as soon as I have any to share. So far all I've done is buy myself a new TV and talk to a mortgage specialist at the bank about how much house I can afford to buy. So stay tuned...
Monday, August 13
Amy's Wedding
So I promised Angie I'd blog all about Amy's wedding since she's so far away and likes weddings. Unfortunately I'm not good at remembering to take pictures of the things I'll want to have pictures of when it comes time to blog. So here it goes...
Sioux Center, Iowa is about 10 hours from Highland Park. Woo road trip. Thankfully Kinsey and Greg let me stay with them on Tuesday night so I could break up the driving. (see previous post)
So wednesday morning I drove up to the CRapids and lunched with Kinsey. Mmmm Pancheros. (insert mental image of your favortie pancheros meal here) I always like to order the chicken burrito; with rice, pinto beans, chicken, hot salsa, cheese and occasionally some guacamole. Oh and some Pibb Xtra. There is seriously nothing better than Pibb or Dr Pepper when it's a fountain soda. It's like no one can get the right balance and it's always extra syrupy. I love it.
Once I'd dropped Kinsey off at work again, I was off! Oh! I'm gettng a head of myself though. I forgot to mention the Carnie Caravan I saw on I-80. Yes, that was exactly what it sounds like. First I passed a truck towing one of those food stands you see at the fair. Then a truck with go karts. Then Tilt-a-Whirl seats. Then a little kid rollercoaster. It was awesome!
So as you could probably guess the drive across northern Iowa isn't overly exciting scenery-wise. The afternoon started out sunny...
Then it got cloudy...
Then it rained.....
In reality I enjoyed the drive quite a bit. It's nice to have a bit of open road and good music every once and a while. Once I got west of Fort Dodge I had a really great view of the countryside around me. This was especially nice after the rain started clearing. There was a really cool break in the clouds where you could tell the sun was setting.
The pictures don't really do it justice.
By the time I got to Sioux Center it was sunny again!
Ok, I know. You don't really care about what the weather was like. So moving on....
Once in town I met up with Amy and the Van Gorp family at Pizza Ranch for dinner. Wednesday night we just sort of sat around and marveled at the dog (pony) that Lianne and Mike were adopting. It was a full size Great Dane named Chance the ninth. He had papers and everything. (Unfortunately they ended up not keeping him, but Chance was fun for the few days he was around.)
Thursday we decorated the church. (Remember how I fail at taking the right pictures? Yea I didn't take any of the actual church.) I will do my best to descirbe it all though: Amy's wedding colors were brown and light blue, so at the very front of the church everything was done in those colors. There were boxes covered in appropriately colored fabric, on which the candles sat, then a huge line of chistmas lights wrapped up in white tulle draped to create a proscenium look. Lianne and I made bows out of tulle for each of the chairs along the main aisle and then added ribbons to match the wedding colors. Someone found these great fake votive-y lights for the floor along the main aisle. They even flickered a bit like real candles would! These candles were loosely wrapped in matching blue tulle, which made them more eye-catching.
After decorating, I went to Le Mars with Amy and Lianne to their cousin-in-law's baby shower. With the ice cream capital of the world so close to home, of course we went to the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor. I was going to take a picture of the big sundae statue out front but got distracted by the cool thing the sun was doing as it set....
Friday morning we all headed to Dordt college to decorate the reception hall. Amy had ordered 400 white roses from ecuador for her center pieces. While they looked awesome, it took a lot of work to put all 40+ vases together.
From Right to Left: Amy, Jenna, Lianne, Mindy (Seth's older sister) and Janene (Seth's mom).
They also put all the boys to work filling vases, wiping them off, shuttling them out to Kinsey to set up on each table. In the end they turned out pretty great.
We also had a napkin folding party, where six of us sat around a table and folded all 240 napkins into these nifty little silverware holders.
The saucer and doily (sp?) are for the fudge cakes Lianne made. She was definitely a rockstar, making 4 of 6 batches all by herself. Each batch of fudge had to be cut into 40 circles each of three different sizes so they could be sugared and then stacked into these neat little towers. I only had to do one batch and I found it tiring.
Pictures of the cake...
Saturday morning, we snuck in a bit of pool time before getting ready for the wedding.
I mostly just love the inflatable Seahorse in this picture. (Sorry Greg and Andrew) Over the few days I was in town, I definitely got my fill of pool time. And raft wars. I think I still have bruises. I know I still have bruises from all those cannonballs I did off the top of the slide. (ask me later about my splash size as a ratio of pain theory)
Amy brushing her teeth before getting her dress on...
The bouquets....
(white roses and blue hydrangeas)
The head table at the reception....
The food at the reception was amazing! I'm always a bit skeptical of catered food, but this stuff was seriously great. I loaded up my plate big time.....
(if only my fruit hadn't fallen in the gravy!)
After everyone had eaten there was a slideshow of pictures and some old home movies of both Seth and Amy. Then the floor in front of the head table was cleared for dancing. Lianne's husband Mike had recruited his brothers to help out with DJ-ing. At one point they were having some sound issues which lead to this great picture....
(Matt and Chris are standing, Mike and Brian sitting)
Amy and her dad dancing...
Kinsey and Greg watching the fun...
The center pieces with the candles lit.....
All lined up....
Leftover cake for breakfast!
I did also stop and take a picture to use as my new desktop wallpaper. For all those times I miss the corn fields.
All in all the whole trip was a lot of fun. I forget how much I miss everyone until I get to see them again.
Sioux Center, Iowa is about 10 hours from Highland Park. Woo road trip. Thankfully Kinsey and Greg let me stay with them on Tuesday night so I could break up the driving. (see previous post)
So wednesday morning I drove up to the CRapids and lunched with Kinsey. Mmmm Pancheros. (insert mental image of your favortie pancheros meal here) I always like to order the chicken burrito; with rice, pinto beans, chicken, hot salsa, cheese and occasionally some guacamole. Oh and some Pibb Xtra. There is seriously nothing better than Pibb or Dr Pepper when it's a fountain soda. It's like no one can get the right balance and it's always extra syrupy. I love it.
Once I'd dropped Kinsey off at work again, I was off! Oh! I'm gettng a head of myself though. I forgot to mention the Carnie Caravan I saw on I-80. Yes, that was exactly what it sounds like. First I passed a truck towing one of those food stands you see at the fair. Then a truck with go karts. Then Tilt-a-Whirl seats. Then a little kid rollercoaster. It was awesome!
So as you could probably guess the drive across northern Iowa isn't overly exciting scenery-wise. The afternoon started out sunny...
Then it got cloudy...
Then it rained.....
In reality I enjoyed the drive quite a bit. It's nice to have a bit of open road and good music every once and a while. Once I got west of Fort Dodge I had a really great view of the countryside around me. This was especially nice after the rain started clearing. There was a really cool break in the clouds where you could tell the sun was setting.
The pictures don't really do it justice.
By the time I got to Sioux Center it was sunny again!
Ok, I know. You don't really care about what the weather was like. So moving on....
Once in town I met up with Amy and the Van Gorp family at Pizza Ranch for dinner. Wednesday night we just sort of sat around and marveled at the dog (pony) that Lianne and Mike were adopting. It was a full size Great Dane named Chance the ninth. He had papers and everything. (Unfortunately they ended up not keeping him, but Chance was fun for the few days he was around.)
Thursday we decorated the church. (Remember how I fail at taking the right pictures? Yea I didn't take any of the actual church.) I will do my best to descirbe it all though: Amy's wedding colors were brown and light blue, so at the very front of the church everything was done in those colors. There were boxes covered in appropriately colored fabric, on which the candles sat, then a huge line of chistmas lights wrapped up in white tulle draped to create a proscenium look. Lianne and I made bows out of tulle for each of the chairs along the main aisle and then added ribbons to match the wedding colors. Someone found these great fake votive-y lights for the floor along the main aisle. They even flickered a bit like real candles would! These candles were loosely wrapped in matching blue tulle, which made them more eye-catching.
After decorating, I went to Le Mars with Amy and Lianne to their cousin-in-law's baby shower. With the ice cream capital of the world so close to home, of course we went to the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor. I was going to take a picture of the big sundae statue out front but got distracted by the cool thing the sun was doing as it set....
Friday morning we all headed to Dordt college to decorate the reception hall. Amy had ordered 400 white roses from ecuador for her center pieces. While they looked awesome, it took a lot of work to put all 40+ vases together.
From Right to Left: Amy, Jenna, Lianne, Mindy (Seth's older sister) and Janene (Seth's mom).
They also put all the boys to work filling vases, wiping them off, shuttling them out to Kinsey to set up on each table. In the end they turned out pretty great.
We also had a napkin folding party, where six of us sat around a table and folded all 240 napkins into these nifty little silverware holders.
The saucer and doily (sp?) are for the fudge cakes Lianne made. She was definitely a rockstar, making 4 of 6 batches all by herself. Each batch of fudge had to be cut into 40 circles each of three different sizes so they could be sugared and then stacked into these neat little towers. I only had to do one batch and I found it tiring.
Pictures of the cake...
Saturday morning, we snuck in a bit of pool time before getting ready for the wedding.
I mostly just love the inflatable Seahorse in this picture. (Sorry Greg and Andrew) Over the few days I was in town, I definitely got my fill of pool time. And raft wars. I think I still have bruises. I know I still have bruises from all those cannonballs I did off the top of the slide. (ask me later about my splash size as a ratio of pain theory)
Amy brushing her teeth before getting her dress on...
The bouquets....
(white roses and blue hydrangeas)
The head table at the reception....
The food at the reception was amazing! I'm always a bit skeptical of catered food, but this stuff was seriously great. I loaded up my plate big time.....
(if only my fruit hadn't fallen in the gravy!)
After everyone had eaten there was a slideshow of pictures and some old home movies of both Seth and Amy. Then the floor in front of the head table was cleared for dancing. Lianne's husband Mike had recruited his brothers to help out with DJ-ing. At one point they were having some sound issues which lead to this great picture....
(Matt and Chris are standing, Mike and Brian sitting)
Amy and her dad dancing...
Kinsey and Greg watching the fun...
The center pieces with the candles lit.....
All lined up....
Leftover cake for breakfast!
I did also stop and take a picture to use as my new desktop wallpaper. For all those times I miss the corn fields.
All in all the whole trip was a lot of fun. I forget how much I miss everyone until I get to see them again.
Tuesday, August 7
placate Kinsey
Ok she's getting antsy. Kinsey is making me blog. As in, Kinsey is sitting next to me on the couch yelling at me and leaving threatening comments on said blog. So here we go...
Today is the beginning of Summer Vacation part deux (aka the Iowa Wedding adventure). I woke up today, printed my Wedding Timeline (thanks Amy :D) packed up the car and drove to Iowa City. The only place on earth hotter and MORE humid than Highland Park Illinois. Gregory made us dinner, we watched a little tv, and then went to see the Simpsons movie. Now we're watching Flipping Out on Bravo. (See this is why I don't blog, I have an unexciting life)
There is a pretty great thunderstorm brewing around us, so there's a little excitement.
Tomorrow's plan: Lunch with Kinsey (and Jenna?) in the CRapids, driving to Sioux center and then who knows what. (Maybe I ought to consult my timeline!)
Ok, I really do plan on blogging more soon. This is just to get Kinsey to calm down.
Today is the beginning of Summer Vacation part deux (aka the Iowa Wedding adventure). I woke up today, printed my Wedding Timeline (thanks Amy :D) packed up the car and drove to Iowa City. The only place on earth hotter and MORE humid than Highland Park Illinois. Gregory made us dinner, we watched a little tv, and then went to see the Simpsons movie. Now we're watching Flipping Out on Bravo. (See this is why I don't blog, I have an unexciting life)
There is a pretty great thunderstorm brewing around us, so there's a little excitement.
Tomorrow's plan: Lunch with Kinsey (and Jenna?) in the CRapids, driving to Sioux center and then who knows what. (Maybe I ought to consult my timeline!)
Ok, I really do plan on blogging more soon. This is just to get Kinsey to calm down.
Monday, July 16
Stumpy's Back!
So you may remember a news story I linked to a while back. It was about Stumpy the 4 legged duck. Well as it turns out Stumpy is a) down to three legs after an accident with a fence and b) in love!
Yes that's right, Stumpy has a lady friend named Alice.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=468610&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow
Yes that's right, Stumpy has a lady friend named Alice.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=468610&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow
Wednesday, June 27
Decorate
This post is mostly for Kinsey, so she can see what she helped me create.
So every few months our store sends out a little mini newspaper thing that features anywhere from 30 to 100 items and we call it the "Fearless Flyer!" Geeky. I know. So part of my job is to design and build displays featuring flyer items and then also decorate the store in such a way that customers can tell there's something special going on... aka... Flyer Week.
Well this time around I messed up. I got overwhelmed and basically dropped the ball. I did everything I had to: plan displays, build them, work with the various order writers to keep them looking good and keep us in stock on all the flyer products. The one thing I did not do, was decorate. Well at least not on time.
So last monday after working my normal 3 am to 1 pm shift I set out in search of both decorations and ideas. At our old store we always did cheesy aka "joes-y" decorations. Christmas lights and craypaper and cardboard cutout type things. What with our new store being so ridiculously nice and non-joesy, I knew I couldn't really rely on all the old short cuts. So I called Kinsey!
Who knows classy decorating better than Kinsey? umm no one. Did you see her wedding reception? Her awesome new house? Exactly. So Kinsey came to my rescue.
I went to Hobby Lobby and Target and eventually Walgreens for some miscellaneous stuff. And I think everything turned out pretty good! I decided I wanted to do little "scene" like decorations. All in the spirit of summer. So I did....
...a summer picnic...
...a backyard BBQ...
...beach trip...
...a garden spot....
...another beach trip...
...and a road trip.
I also bought a bunch of brightly colored flip flops to catch your eye when you first walk into the store.
Then today, David, one of our store artists, made fun signs to go with each one. Things like, "Flyer Meats, perfect for the grill!" and "Flyer Produce, everything you need in one easy package" (since the only produce in the flyer was a pre-cut up back of vegetables for kabobs and then a kit for making guacamole, which included all the necessary veggies in one box).
Of course we also did the traditional balloons everywhere, just to make sure no one misses out on the fact that something special was going on.
I feel like such a grocery store nerd.
So every few months our store sends out a little mini newspaper thing that features anywhere from 30 to 100 items and we call it the "Fearless Flyer!" Geeky. I know. So part of my job is to design and build displays featuring flyer items and then also decorate the store in such a way that customers can tell there's something special going on... aka... Flyer Week.
Well this time around I messed up. I got overwhelmed and basically dropped the ball. I did everything I had to: plan displays, build them, work with the various order writers to keep them looking good and keep us in stock on all the flyer products. The one thing I did not do, was decorate. Well at least not on time.
So last monday after working my normal 3 am to 1 pm shift I set out in search of both decorations and ideas. At our old store we always did cheesy aka "joes-y" decorations. Christmas lights and craypaper and cardboard cutout type things. What with our new store being so ridiculously nice and non-joesy, I knew I couldn't really rely on all the old short cuts. So I called Kinsey!
Who knows classy decorating better than Kinsey? umm no one. Did you see her wedding reception? Her awesome new house? Exactly. So Kinsey came to my rescue.
I went to Hobby Lobby and Target and eventually Walgreens for some miscellaneous stuff. And I think everything turned out pretty good! I decided I wanted to do little "scene" like decorations. All in the spirit of summer. So I did....
...a summer picnic...
...a backyard BBQ...
...beach trip...
...a garden spot....
...another beach trip...
...and a road trip.
I also bought a bunch of brightly colored flip flops to catch your eye when you first walk into the store.
Then today, David, one of our store artists, made fun signs to go with each one. Things like, "Flyer Meats, perfect for the grill!" and "Flyer Produce, everything you need in one easy package" (since the only produce in the flyer was a pre-cut up back of vegetables for kabobs and then a kit for making guacamole, which included all the necessary veggies in one box).
Of course we also did the traditional balloons everywhere, just to make sure no one misses out on the fact that something special was going on.
I feel like such a grocery store nerd.
Tuesday, May 15
Face Reality
"It's been one of those days
and everybody's on it everybody's on it
here comes the rain
the boys and the girls are coming inside
walking past the gate if i hurry i can get home in time
i love my house
it's been one of those days
and everybody's on it everybody's on it"
~ ATHLETE - One of Those Days ~
That sounds rather harsh, but no worries, nothing horrible will be unfolding in the post below. I've just been thinking an awful lot in the past two days about where I'm at and where I'm headed.
For the last 8 months of my life everything has been building towards a single date: May 11th. We accomplished the unthinkable... we opened a brand new store while keeping another store running at full force. It's been an amazing experience. (I'll post more about all that later on... hopefully there will also be pictures :D) I have little doubt in my mind that I found the job I was always meant to have. I look at all the random hobbies, skills, classes that made up the 23 years preceding and can see how they all came into play during these last months. This move has called on all my skills personally and professionally. (Am I really old enough to have "professional" skills?)
I feel as though God lead me down a road as twisted and hilly as the turn off you take to get to Sugar Bottom's Disc Golf course. And looking back I now see how both the failures and triumphs have gotten me here. Wow. Who am I to have been so blessed in this way and at such a young age.
For the majority of my "adult" life I've had one consistent prayer that is always included amongst all the others:
"Lord give me the knowledge to see the path you're laying out for me,
The stregth to walk down it,
And the faith to put one foot in front of the other on the days I've lost my way"
And let me tell you..... He made good. I knocked and the door was opened. I asked and He provided.
So if there's any advice I can offer to you, all my friends out there graduating or just looking ahead... trust Him. Follow Him down the road that feels right even when you can't read the map.
This brings me to the second half of my post, where to now?
Now that the store opening has come and passed it's time to start looking forward again. Talking to my boss it sounds like I'm going to be transferred to another store within the next month or so. This is sort of bittersweet, having just put everything I've got into this new store and knowing now that I'll be leaving it. I'm surprisingly ok with it though. I'm ready for that next adventure, that new challenge. I've proven that I can do the first half of the job. Now I have to prove that I can do the "people half." Now I want to show them I can be a leader and a coach and a good manager.
So here I sit on my front porch in the rain letting my mind wander...
This is the first real summer rain. Where the air is humid all day and then when the clouds break the rain is warm but the breeze has a bit of a chill to it.
I miss my dog. I miss bringing her our onto this porch in the rain. She'd sit by the ledge with her nose in the air discovering all the new scents brought alive by a fresh rain.
It's time to leave my parent's house. It's been great and I'm so thankful they let me come back and I haven't had to struggle to pay rent and bills. But now it's finally time I move on.
I promised two years ago to fix the chair I'm sitting on and still haven't done it. It's an Adirondack style chair I built in high school wood shop class. I took the class as a senior because unlike most of my friends who packed their schedule with AP this and honors that in order to get into the best school, I was accepted into Iowa by the beginning of October and wanted to relax and enjoy my senior year. I knew the wood shop teacher from the brief time he was at the middle school and then again when he would lend a hand for theater productions. I was his "handy Thiel person." So senior year Matt and I were in his class with all the usual wood shop trouble makers and he basically let us build whatever we wanted. It was great.
I should make Angie another mix cd. I wonder if she's gotten the last ones I sent to her.
I need a real vacation. And someone to go with me on this trip. I want to take an actual trip. Maybe another country? Highest on the list is probably Asia. Maybe Japan, or Thailand or China for the Olympics? Europe would probably be easier though. Maybe I can arrange to meet Angie somewhere on her next leave. It would have been nice if I'd had the time to get to Spain.
Not only is it time to leave my parents house, but probably also Illinois. I need a new city. When my boss and I talk about my transfer I'll have to pick his brain about where he thinks the best opportunities are.
That's all. The wind has definitely shifted to being cold and the shorts and t-shirt which felt like almost too much when I came out here are now not doing enough to keep out the chill. Sorry about the lack of structure towards the end. I just haven't posted anything in so long and I figured it was as good a way as any to share some of the random thoguhts I've been having lately.
I'll try and get pictures up of this new store I keep mentioning. It's seriously so great I want you all to come visit it. Maybe that 120 hour, 11 straight days leading up to doors open was worth it after all :D
and everybody's on it everybody's on it
here comes the rain
the boys and the girls are coming inside
walking past the gate if i hurry i can get home in time
i love my house
it's been one of those days
and everybody's on it everybody's on it"
~ ATHLETE - One of Those Days ~
That sounds rather harsh, but no worries, nothing horrible will be unfolding in the post below. I've just been thinking an awful lot in the past two days about where I'm at and where I'm headed.
For the last 8 months of my life everything has been building towards a single date: May 11th. We accomplished the unthinkable... we opened a brand new store while keeping another store running at full force. It's been an amazing experience. (I'll post more about all that later on... hopefully there will also be pictures :D) I have little doubt in my mind that I found the job I was always meant to have. I look at all the random hobbies, skills, classes that made up the 23 years preceding and can see how they all came into play during these last months. This move has called on all my skills personally and professionally. (Am I really old enough to have "professional" skills?)
I feel as though God lead me down a road as twisted and hilly as the turn off you take to get to Sugar Bottom's Disc Golf course. And looking back I now see how both the failures and triumphs have gotten me here. Wow. Who am I to have been so blessed in this way and at such a young age.
For the majority of my "adult" life I've had one consistent prayer that is always included amongst all the others:
"Lord give me the knowledge to see the path you're laying out for me,
The stregth to walk down it,
And the faith to put one foot in front of the other on the days I've lost my way"
And let me tell you..... He made good. I knocked and the door was opened. I asked and He provided.
So if there's any advice I can offer to you, all my friends out there graduating or just looking ahead... trust Him. Follow Him down the road that feels right even when you can't read the map.
This brings me to the second half of my post, where to now?
Now that the store opening has come and passed it's time to start looking forward again. Talking to my boss it sounds like I'm going to be transferred to another store within the next month or so. This is sort of bittersweet, having just put everything I've got into this new store and knowing now that I'll be leaving it. I'm surprisingly ok with it though. I'm ready for that next adventure, that new challenge. I've proven that I can do the first half of the job. Now I have to prove that I can do the "people half." Now I want to show them I can be a leader and a coach and a good manager.
So here I sit on my front porch in the rain letting my mind wander...
This is the first real summer rain. Where the air is humid all day and then when the clouds break the rain is warm but the breeze has a bit of a chill to it.
I miss my dog. I miss bringing her our onto this porch in the rain. She'd sit by the ledge with her nose in the air discovering all the new scents brought alive by a fresh rain.
It's time to leave my parent's house. It's been great and I'm so thankful they let me come back and I haven't had to struggle to pay rent and bills. But now it's finally time I move on.
I promised two years ago to fix the chair I'm sitting on and still haven't done it. It's an Adirondack style chair I built in high school wood shop class. I took the class as a senior because unlike most of my friends who packed their schedule with AP this and honors that in order to get into the best school, I was accepted into Iowa by the beginning of October and wanted to relax and enjoy my senior year. I knew the wood shop teacher from the brief time he was at the middle school and then again when he would lend a hand for theater productions. I was his "handy Thiel person." So senior year Matt and I were in his class with all the usual wood shop trouble makers and he basically let us build whatever we wanted. It was great.
I should make Angie another mix cd. I wonder if she's gotten the last ones I sent to her.
I need a real vacation. And someone to go with me on this trip. I want to take an actual trip. Maybe another country? Highest on the list is probably Asia. Maybe Japan, or Thailand or China for the Olympics? Europe would probably be easier though. Maybe I can arrange to meet Angie somewhere on her next leave. It would have been nice if I'd had the time to get to Spain.
Not only is it time to leave my parents house, but probably also Illinois. I need a new city. When my boss and I talk about my transfer I'll have to pick his brain about where he thinks the best opportunities are.
That's all. The wind has definitely shifted to being cold and the shorts and t-shirt which felt like almost too much when I came out here are now not doing enough to keep out the chill. Sorry about the lack of structure towards the end. I just haven't posted anything in so long and I figured it was as good a way as any to share some of the random thoguhts I've been having lately.
I'll try and get pictures up of this new store I keep mentioning. It's seriously so great I want you all to come visit it. Maybe that 120 hour, 11 straight days leading up to doors open was worth it after all :D
Wednesday, April 18
Play the same chords
If you've ever thought all pop songs sound the same, Rob here will explain why...
Make sure you watch all the way until the end. That's the best part.
Make sure you watch all the way until the end. That's the best part.
Wednesday, March 21
Recap
Goodness. Has it really been a month? I'm sorry. Someday I'll get back to finishing the trip pictures, but for now... eh. Maybe if I get bored tomorrow. Anyway....
Work continues to be stressful, but I'm doing a better job having a life outside of work. A couple weeks back I went to America's number one soccer bar in Wrigleyville on my day off. Yummy Irish food and Good beer and even better soccer. Not a bad day off :D
On St Patrick's Day I met up with my friend David in Evanston and we had a few pints of Guiness to celebrate the holiday. It was nice to do something besides work or sit at home, even if we did talk mostly about Trader Joe's and people we knew in common. The bar we went to was close to the Northwestern campus so we definitely spent part of the night mocking the rowdy college kids. It felt like being back in IC.
Sunday night another one of our friends Dj'd a bar in Wicker Park. It was one of those tiny hole in the wall clubs that is too cool to even have a sign out front. I think the only people in the place were TJ's empolyees from various stores, but it was still good fun. I made some new friends and now the count is up to 4!!!! That's right, I have 6 friends in Chicago now. Take that Iowa City! ( Just kidding. I'd still much rather be back there) One of the girls there spent a solid 15 minutes playing TJ customer charades were she acted out stereotypical customers while we tried to guess. I was laughing so hard I was in tears. We were practically rolling on the floor laughing. We also all made plans to go to Trader Joe's prom on the same night. Hooray knowing people at the party this year!
Yes that means I have to buy a dress for the party again. No clue what I want to wear, but at least this year I'm starting shopping earlier and I have a better idea of what other people wear. It looks like I won't be going the same night as my boss, which is probably for the best because he tells me he's "quite the partier" and he plans on "going wild." Like I said, I think I can miss that.
Work continues to be stressful, but I'm doing a better job having a life outside of work. A couple weeks back I went to America's number one soccer bar in Wrigleyville on my day off. Yummy Irish food and Good beer and even better soccer. Not a bad day off :D
On St Patrick's Day I met up with my friend David in Evanston and we had a few pints of Guiness to celebrate the holiday. It was nice to do something besides work or sit at home, even if we did talk mostly about Trader Joe's and people we knew in common. The bar we went to was close to the Northwestern campus so we definitely spent part of the night mocking the rowdy college kids. It felt like being back in IC.
Sunday night another one of our friends Dj'd a bar in Wicker Park. It was one of those tiny hole in the wall clubs that is too cool to even have a sign out front. I think the only people in the place were TJ's empolyees from various stores, but it was still good fun. I made some new friends and now the count is up to 4!!!! That's right, I have 6 friends in Chicago now. Take that Iowa City! ( Just kidding. I'd still much rather be back there) One of the girls there spent a solid 15 minutes playing TJ customer charades were she acted out stereotypical customers while we tried to guess. I was laughing so hard I was in tears. We were practically rolling on the floor laughing. We also all made plans to go to Trader Joe's prom on the same night. Hooray knowing people at the party this year!
Yes that means I have to buy a dress for the party again. No clue what I want to wear, but at least this year I'm starting shopping earlier and I have a better idea of what other people wear. It looks like I won't be going the same night as my boss, which is probably for the best because he tells me he's "quite the partier" and he plans on "going wild." Like I said, I think I can miss that.
Wednesday, February 21
Hit the Slopes
Day One on the Mountain. We woke up bright and early (7 am) and geared up for some fun. Of course we didn't actually get out the door until almost 930. We're not so together. Matt, Tony and Jason all smiles at the start of the day...
Our awesome condo.
The view from our driveway.
As you can see it was snowing at the base of the mountain. It had been snowing steadily for a couple of days and there was knee high powder when we got out there. I'd never snowboarded in anything that deep before so I did a lot of falling at first. This first stretch of mountain took me almost 20 minutes to get down
I'm told it kept everyone waiting in the lift line entertained :D I had a couple of awesome falls... some good sommersaults... only one minor injury. I only went about half way up the mountain that first time. This put me in the heart of the clouds and the snow storm. I took a cut through path to get to one of the big runs.
I also wanted to avoid the little kid ski schools. At one point I was following a pair of riders who decided to leave the path and go down the clif. Sure. Why not. Eventually I got to a larger run, but there was little visability.
I got a bit lost, but I did find this sign...
So I didn't feel completely lost :D It turned out I was on a different run then I planned. Only a bit farther and I got home just in time for lunch.
I was so exhausted I decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing in the condo.
The guys went a bit higher...
...but fell just as hard.
Once everyone was home we hit the hot tub and did a little bit of drinking. We spent the big bucks on Canada's finest variety packs. We bought a couple of cheap mixed cases that turned out to be halfway decent.
Andrew played with the fireplace
Matt pretended to be an Iron Chef
While Matt and I worked on enchiladas for dinner we accidently set off the smoke detector. Which set off the house alarm. Which we had no idea how to turn off. It was ok though, because while we all scrambled about trying to fix the problem, Andrew continued to play with the fire place. "Where's the lighter? Has anyone seen my lighter?" "No Drew, open a freaking door and let the smoke out"
After dinner Matt and Tony pelted us with snowballs every time we tried to join them in the hot tub.
So we decided to get them back with the Shovel Sneak Attack!
Ok well that was Day Two. Stay tuned for more updates.
Our awesome condo.
The view from our driveway.
As you can see it was snowing at the base of the mountain. It had been snowing steadily for a couple of days and there was knee high powder when we got out there. I'd never snowboarded in anything that deep before so I did a lot of falling at first. This first stretch of mountain took me almost 20 minutes to get down
I'm told it kept everyone waiting in the lift line entertained :D I had a couple of awesome falls... some good sommersaults... only one minor injury. I only went about half way up the mountain that first time. This put me in the heart of the clouds and the snow storm. I took a cut through path to get to one of the big runs.
I also wanted to avoid the little kid ski schools. At one point I was following a pair of riders who decided to leave the path and go down the clif. Sure. Why not. Eventually I got to a larger run, but there was little visability.
I got a bit lost, but I did find this sign...
So I didn't feel completely lost :D It turned out I was on a different run then I planned. Only a bit farther and I got home just in time for lunch.
I was so exhausted I decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing in the condo.
The guys went a bit higher...
...but fell just as hard.
Once everyone was home we hit the hot tub and did a little bit of drinking. We spent the big bucks on Canada's finest variety packs. We bought a couple of cheap mixed cases that turned out to be halfway decent.
Andrew played with the fireplace
Matt pretended to be an Iron Chef
While Matt and I worked on enchiladas for dinner we accidently set off the smoke detector. Which set off the house alarm. Which we had no idea how to turn off. It was ok though, because while we all scrambled about trying to fix the problem, Andrew continued to play with the fire place. "Where's the lighter? Has anyone seen my lighter?" "No Drew, open a freaking door and let the smoke out"
After dinner Matt and Tony pelted us with snowballs every time we tried to join them in the hot tub.
So we decided to get them back with the Shovel Sneak Attack!
Ok well that was Day Two. Stay tuned for more updates.
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